The Cat Next Door
by Broken Wings
Summary: Our cute, fat, and fuzzy feline falls in love with the cat next door. - Read & Review!
1. New Neighbors

AN: What can I say, I love Garfield! And since the new Garfield movie is coming up I just had to write a fic. Especially since there don't seem to be any romance related fics in here, I decided to make a Humor/Romance. I hope you enjoy, please review! Hopefully after the movie comes out this section will be flooded with Garfield stories!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Garfield, Jim Davis does. Lucky duck. --;  
  
Chapter I  
  
New Neighbors  
  
=^___________________________^=  
  
"Yawn!" Yet another morning in the world of me, Garfield mused while slumping over his pillow. Birds chirped outside, and he glares at them. Must they make a racket when he was being lazy? The nerve of those stupid birds, who did they think they were? Garfield then thought of something that would cheer up his mood. Breakfast!  
  
He immediately got up, not quickly, but he did manage to lift himself from his comfortable bed. The feline went into the kitchen and hoped on the tabletop, staring indifferently up at Jon who was drinking his morning coffee.  
  
Jon arched a brow, but distinctly knew exactly what Garfield was thinking about. He took out a can-opener and poured his cat food out in his bowl. Garfield crinkled his nose, as if uninterested in his mushy cat food. He would prefer Tuna Fish this morning, but how on earth could Jon be capable of knowing that. After all he was a human. At any rate, he ate it until it was empty. Then he carried himself outside to find a place to laze about at.  
  
"Well, this is fun." He said unenthusiastically while shielding his eyes from the sun. His orange fur glinted in the sunrays. He groaned, and sauntered over to a comfortable looking spot near the flowerbed. Plopping down on the ground he circled the area that he planned on sleeping at and finally made up his decision, and laid down. His tail curled up beside him, tickling his nose. "This is the life." He murmured.  
  
Just as his sleep was about to take wing, an obnoxious barking erupted. Lifting one eyelid he takes a peek at what Odie could possibly do this time. Did he not realize that this was a "non" disturbing section?  
  
Odie raced over, running at Garfield with full speed. "This can't be good."  
  
SMACK!  
  
Garfield saw beautiful stars floating above his head. He leaned up weakly and glared at the mutt that called himself Odie. But the dog was far too busy with his own task. Digging up the flowers. Garfield blinked blankly as Odie pulled the flowers from the ground and held them in his jaw. He scurried off indoors happily with his bouquet of flowers, which still had the roots.  
  
Curious, the orange tabby quickly followed him. When he entered the kitchen Jon took the flowers from Odie's mouth and examined them, then patted Odie on the head and threw him a cookie. "Good boy Odie, the new neighbors will love these!"  
  
Garfield looked at the cookie that was at his feet. Odie whimpered, knowing all to well that food around Garfield could never be good. Alas, Garfield picked up the treat and claimed it as his own, in the pit of his stomach. The tabby licked his furry fingers and smiled satisfied. Then he looked at Odie and smiled, "Don't worry, you did the right thing." Odie glared at him. "Remember your diet? I just did you a favor." Garfield insured him, and walked over to Jon. Odie scratched his head, puzzled. He didn't recall being on a diet. But if Garfield said so, then it must be true!  
  
Garfield cocked his head at Jon, wondering what on earth he was doing. Let's see Garfield rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Jon had on a suit, a tie, and had a batch of flowers. Oh no! It couldn't be a date? Garfield thought, horrorstruck. Nah, that was ridiculous!  
  
This was worth investigating though. He blinked; looking up at his master who was fixing his tie to make sure it was straight. Then he ran into the other room, came back five minutes later, and the process seemed to go on like that for a while in that exact pattern.  
  
"I'm going next door to greet the neighbors. I'll be back soon. Be good you two!" He gave them a look of warning if they did not heed his word, then left.  
  
Garfield and Odie looked at each other in an awkward silence. "I'm going to sleep." Garfield declared, and went straight to bed. 


	2. Love at first Meow

AN: Thank you for your kind reviews! Sorry that the chapters are so short, and that they took forever to update. But school is such a pain to deal with. Summer won't be any better because it is packed with things I have to do. Like Drivers Ed and Baby Sitting, going on three vacations ^^; Phew, its a lot of work! LOL! I will keep up this story, if you keep up to reviews ^.~ Remember! R&R!!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Garfield!  
  
Chapter II  
  
Love at First Meow  
  
=^___________________________^=  
  
Six hours had already past by, and Jon had not returned home yet. What could be so interesting over there? Though Garfield liked the idea of being able to stay home alone to watch television, steal all the food in the house, curiosity got the best of him. He just had to meet the new neighbors that were keeping Jon away.  
  
Garfield jumped over their fence and landed in new neighbor's back yard, he spots Odie wagging his tail through the crack in the back door. He slyly approaches, when he peeked in all he saw was a human girl that was roughly around Jons age, petting Odie on the head and talking merrily with Jon. Which was surprising due to all the other females that was simply appalled at the first sight of Jon. Usually they would avoid contact with Jon as much as possible. This was defiantly a turn of events. But other than a girl actually enjoying Jons company, he saw nothing particularly interesting about the new comers. Garfield turned to leave and started to walk off.  
  
Jon and the girls conversation dropped for mid-second, "Oh, hold on a moment. I must turn on the sprinklers in the backyard." She walked over to the switch near the door and flipped it just when Garfield was walking through the grass.  
  
Garfield paused and looked at the strange object that just popped out of the ground, he brought his face closer, then an immense amount of water sprayed him in the face. He choked and gagged as the water ran down his throat forcefully. He let out a cry, and dashed, but every turn her made there was just another sprinkler ready to fire. He finally found a remote area that was completely clear of sprinklers. Garfield stopped at the clearing, and sat down licking the beads of liquid off his fur.  
  
Lying in a tree, a black cat watched Garfield amusingly. The female feline eyed the orange tabby intensely. For her taste in mates, he wasn't too shabby looking. In all actuality, she found him quite pleasant to look at. She smiled briskly and decided to talk to the tabby. "You know, it's not exactly healthy to play in the sprinklers at night. You might catch ammonia."  
  
Garfield snapped his head back to see who was talking to him. His jaw was inches from the ground at the very sight of her. Her fur was majestic and breathtakingly beautiful, it was shiny and looked like it had a silky surface. Her eyes were like falling to a pool of enchanting blue; they sparkled like diamonds in the sky. She must have noticed his longing stare, because she giggled at his posture.  
  
He slicked back the fur at the top of his head, and hoped on to the fence. Giving her one of his best charming smiles that he could muster. Garfield even forgot about his damp fur.  
  
"Well hello there, beautiful. I'm Garfield." He introduced, gently taking her paw and kissing the top of it. She laughed and giggled cutely.  
  
"Nice to make your acquaintance. My names Midnight, kind of a strange name, huh? Humans are dense when it comes to choosing names."  
  
"Oh, not at all. Its original." He complimented. Garfield, giving a compliment? This can't be the same cat!  
  
"So what are you doing in this part of the neighborhood? Are you a pet or a street cat?"  
  
"I'm a pet. I am here to greet our new neighbors, but I was just about to head back home."  
  
"Really? Well I'm new here! You must be my new neighbor!"  
  
Garfield was stunned; this was too good to be true. "Really? Great! I mean, um, cool."  
  
She giggled, "Well then. I guess I'll see you around?"  
  
"Yeah. Well, how about tomorrow night?"  
  
"Perfect!"  
  
"Okay see you then." Garfield hopped back on his side of the fence and walked through Odie's doggy door.  
  
He sighed heavenly. This calls for a celebration, he thought. Garfield was immediately in front of the refrigerator. He gathered lots of food and crashed out on the chair in the living room. (So much for celebrating) When Jon got home, the house was a mess. He followed the trail of muddy paw prints into the living room, where Garfield slept in his chair. His fur was still wet, and it had gotten the whole house filthy. Steamy clouds of smoke trailed out of Jon's ears, he was furious.  
  
"GARFIELD!" 


	3. Escape

AN: Thank you so much for your reviews. This story is getting more reviews than I expected =P Please keep them up, and I will speed up the chapters. Also, Garfield the movie will come out on June 11, 2004. More details about it at: The site also has a trailer! So check it out! ^.~  
  
Chapter III  
  
Escape  
  
=^___________________________^=  
  
Garfield was indeed in hot water. There seemed to be no hope to get out of this mess. He was prohibited to go outside for the day, and of watching television. But there had to be somehow that he could sneak past the rules to see Midnight. Garfield spent his day conjuring up a plan.  
  
Outdoors Odie was being his usual idiotic self by chasing his tail around in circles, or trying to scratch a specific spot on his back but was out of reach. Why didn't he just rub his back against a tree? Garfield was lucky to be born from an intelligent species. Though that did him no good at his current crisis.  
  
Garfield looked out the window longingly. Yearning to be free outdoors, like Odie. Why didn't Garfield just sneak through the doggy door and escape his prison? Well, he would. But it wasn't so simple since Jon was keeping a particular eye on Garfield.  
  
His senses picked up a familiar voice outside. Midnight was perched up on the top of the fence glancing around eagerly, like she was looking for someone. Was she searching for him? He sighed, and lied back down. Jon, who sat behind him, caught his depressed sighed, and exhaled his own stress.  
  
"It's only for one day Garfield." Jon reassured his furry companion. "You'll live."  
  
"Unless I die of boredom." Mumbled Garfield grumpily. "There has to be a way to see Midnight. But there is no way I could do that, unless I was Odie." Then, a mischievous grin spread across his furry lips, something he did when he had a conniving plot. He leaped from the window to the floor and scurried off quickly. Jon arched a brow, "Cats." He murmured disgustedly. "One moment they are sleepy, grouchy, or depressed, then they are alert, playful, and happy."  
  
Garfield scrambled through one of Jon's closets, tossing random junk behind him, and pulled out an orange textured costume from the bottom of the filthy pile. He smirked devilishly; this had been Odie's Halloween costume from last year. Garfield had dressed up like Odie, and Odie like Garfield. It was a special costume that Jon's grandmother made just a month before her passing.  
  
Now it was only a matter of waiting. His plan was already in motion; he would wait for Odie to come back indoors, which would be around a little before the sun would set. Then Garfield would throw his plan into action. So in the meanwhile, Garfield snuggled with Pooky and fell into his own little slumber land. A nap was a great way to pass by the time while he waited. He snuggled closer to Pooky, and gave him a tight squeeze. "..Midnight.." He mumbled absently in his sleep.  
  
~  
  
Garfield felt something licking his cheek. Midnight? Garfield forced his eyes open; he saw a blurry figure of something hovering over him. "Midnight?" It licked him again on the cheek and barked. "Odie!" Garfield cried frantically. "Yuck!" He moaned, and whipped the thick saliva was from fur. Odie snickered at the fact that he thought he was his lovely girlfriend from the next door.  
  
"Shut up Odie." Garfield growled, even though Odie had not yet made a comment. Then he remembered something that he had to do. The plan!  
  
"Odie, ol' pal, ol' buddy! I need to ask a favor from you." Garfield said with a smile.  
  
Odie knew this couldn't be good. He slowly started to back away from the evil feline, but just backed up into a wall. "Come here Odie." Garfield said with an evil smirk. The only thing Odie saw was two paws groping him and pulling some kind of fabric over him.  
  
"There, perfect." Garfield exclaimed happily.  
  
Odie dared to open his eyes. He yelped when he saw that his fur was orange instead of his usual pale yellow, and to make it all worse, he had all the features of a cat. The first thought he had that was Garfield went mad and turned him in to a cat. He began to panic.  
  
"Calm down boy! It's only a costume, stupid head." Garfield rolled his eyes, and Odie gave a sigh of relief. Now he won't cough up hair balls after all.  
  
"Okay, here is the plan. I am going to sneak out in this costume so that he thinks I'm you and your going to stay here and act like me while he thinks your me. Got it?"  
  
Odie scratched his head in a confused manner. This got Garfield very agitated. "Pretend to be me, and I will pretend to be you. Got it now?" Odie blinked. "I'll take that as a yes."  
  
He could hear footsteps of Jon's. He quickly pulled the mask over his face and waited anxiously to see if the plan would work. Jon stumbled in, and looked down at them with a stern look. Garfield gulped.  
  
"Hello Garfield, Odie!" He chirped, and walked past them and moved towards the refrigerator. Garfield wiped a coat of sweat from his brow. That was close.  
  
Garfield whispered to Odie one last time before leaving, "Try to remember what I said. It may hurt, but I'm sure you can manage." Odie gave him a salute before he left. "I'm doomed." Garfield murmured grimly and exits. When he walked outdoors he inhaled the sweet air of freedom. It felt nice to be outside once more, even if the sun was going down.  
  
His stomach did a flip; it was time for his date with Midnight. He walked over to the flower patch, and ripped a bouquet of flowers from the dirt, then jumped over the fence and over to the neighbors yard. He gazed around, then his heart dropped to the ground at the sight he saw. 


	4. So much for a date

**AN: **Sorry this chapter took so long to make. I've been so busy with things recently. But here it is! Chapter 4! Thank you all so much for your reviews!   
  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Garfield, Jim Davis does. Lucky duck. --;  
  
**Chapter IV: **So much for a date

* * *

A brown tabby was locked tails with Midnight, sitting very close. The male feline was flirting desperately with Midnight; it was enough to make Garfield want to hack up a fur ball. But to his surprise, she pushed him away and shot him a disgusted glance. He seemed to ignore the gesture, and kept pulling his luck. Something pulled him towards them; anger reeled him over to them. They both looked up at the raged animal, and arched a brow.  
  
Garfield opened his mouth to let lose the anger that he held inside, but couldn't. Besides, did he have reason to get mad? It wasn't like he had claim on her. Now that would be silly. Nearly as silly as still wearing the Odie costume.  
  
"Ah! Dog! I will protect you fair maiden!" The brown tabby declared, stepping in front of her as if to protect her form harm.  
  
Garfield looked around for any sign of a dog, standing ground to prepare himself to protect Midnight from danger. He heard a hiss and twisting his head around he saw the crazy tabby lunging himself at Garfield with claws outstretched. The crazed feline started to claw Garfield angrily, All Garfield did was cover his face, and his Odie costume began to rip and tear. Once the outfit was shattered into squared fabric on the ground, the brown tabby stopped, then backed up.  
  
Midnight ran over to Garfield, "Oh! Garfield I'm so sorry. We didn't recognize you!" She looked down at him worriedly; all Garfield could do at this moment was groan.  
  
"Quick, Francis, help me get him inside."  
  
Garfield then blacked out. He woke up hours later with a smell of food, and a tint of perfume lingering in the air. He opened his eyes and his gaze instantly met Midnight's blue orbs. "Midnight?... I saw... I saw the light!" He mumbled. "Am I dead?"  
  
"No silly. You just simply blacked out. Francis didn't harm you. But I think you overreacted about the attack and you just fainted. So, no, your not dead. Your costume, however, well, there is no repair for it I'm afraid." She teased playfully.  
  
Garfield got to his feet, then sat down in front of her. His tail curling beside him. "Who is Francis?" He asked, a little jealousy in his tone.  
  
"Oh, well he's my neighbor too! He lives just across from us. I just know that you two can sort out your differences, he's a really nice guy. We'll all be the best of friends." She announced gleefully. "Here, let me introduce you two. You haven't been properly aquatinted yet."  
  
Garfield, however, didn't seem to think so. With the way that cat was acting towards Midnight, it was not some friendly game. But Garfield respected Midnight, and he wouldn't argue with her decision. And what did she mean by friend?  
  
The two male felines looked at each other. It was like one of those western shows Garfield watched on TV; they stared hatefully into each other's eyes, with mini-guns in their hands, ready to fire. Garfield snapped out of his fancy world when Francis reached out a friendly paw. "Pleasure meeting you, my name, which I'm sure you heard already, is Francis." He bowed slightly.  
  
"Umm, Garfield." He replied stiffly. Clutching his paw tightly, Francis noticed this but all he did was smile. "Hey Midnight," Francis turned his gaze to her. "Garfield and I, need to have some 'guy talk'. Do you mind?"  
  
"Not at all!" Midnight exclaimed excitedly. "You two take your time to get to know each other, and I'll fetch us some cups of nice cold milk." Before Garfield could plead her to stay, she vanished into the other room.  
  
Unexpectedly, Garfield found himself crushed against a wall. Francis had grabbed his chest and thrust him to the wall with fury. "Listen here mate, Midnight is mine. So back off. I know a lot of street cats around these parts that will rip you to threads if you even lay a paw on Midnight. So don't make any stupid moves." With one paw holding him up, his other paw released on razor sharp claw. His claw gently traced over the sensitive parts of Garfield's throat that could easily slice him now. Did he file those claws or what?  
  
He released Garfield when Midnight returned with a small plate with four glasses of milk. "Milk gentlemen?"  
  
The rest of the night was silent between Garfield and Francis. Whenever Garfield seemed to even try to say a word, Francis would shot him the nastiest glare. But of course, Garfield being the way he was. Was not going to coward over this one cat. No, Garfield had a plan... 


End file.
